Do children learn letter writing from their names? Examining the relations between Head Start children’s writing skills and name-specific letter knowledge

ABSTRACT

This study assessed 266 young children’s (mean age = 55.41 months, SD = 4.70 month) writing skills (name writing and letter writing), and decoding skills (letter knowledge, letter-word identification, and phonological awareness), and investigated whether children learn letter writing from their own names, and whether children’s gender is related to their early writing. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses show that among children who wrote recognizable letters in both name writing and letter writing tasks, children wrote a significantly higher percentage of dictated name letters than non-name letters. Letter knowledge was related to both name writing and letter writing skills. There was evidence that once children had developed basic writing skills, earlier gender differences in writing skills were no longer significant. This study provides support for the classroom instructions that integrate children’s own names and decoding knowledge into writing activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Early writing
• early literacy
• gender difference
• early childhood education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Chenyi Zhang is Assistant Professor at Georgia State University in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Dr. Zhang's research examines the interplay between teachers' classroom instruction and young children's early literacy development with consideration of environmental factors in classroom. His research aims to understand how high quality teacher-child interactions (i.e., emotionally and instructionally sensitive interactions) at school influence young children's literacy, language, and socio-emotional development.

Dr Karen E. Diamond is Professor Emerita of Developmental Studies in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. She is past Editor of the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Her research focuses on classroom interventions to improve outcomes for preschool children from lower-income families and for children with disabilities.

Dr Douglas R. Powell is Distinguishied Professor of Developmental Studies in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. His research and program development interests focus on the contributions of early childhood programs and families to children's learning and development.